Community Plan

Below contains an outline for taking community drug action, recording a community drug assessment, developing and reviewing a community drug action plan.

Action learning, a simple cycle of review, plan, act, review is the basis on which this site is developed and useful for successful community action.

This site should be used in conjunction with Community Drug Assessment which links action to the WA Strategy Against Drug Abuse Action Plan.

Contents

Community Drug Action Steps and Considerations
Community Drug Assessment Work-Sheet
Community Drug Action Planning Sheet
Review Sheet

Seven Community Drug Action Steps and Considerations

1. What's Happening?

§ Has there been a thorough Community Drug Assessment of resources (helps) and deficits (gaps/hinders)?

§ Which areas might you/your agency be interested in?

§ Who else is involved or could help (e.g. Community Drug Service Team, Local Drug Action Group, District Crime Prevention / Community Policing Committee, other)?

2. Careful problem or issue identification

§ Attempt to identify the actual harm or risk of harm associated with drug use. Think about Liver, Lover, Livelihood and Law as well as Intoxication, Regular Use and Dependence and also Drug, Individual, Environment issues.

§ The aim to reduce drug use (eg by demand or supply reduction) is also a reasonable outcome in terms of reducing the risk of drug-related harm. The point is that it should not be the only outcome considered.

§ Don't forget about things which are already working but which need attention or have worked in the past which could be revived.

§ Consider psycho-social health enhancing factors which might compete with drug use.

3. Deal with emotions

§ Drug use issues tend to raise many emotional issues. Listen well using your best reflective skills. Acknowledge and validate the emotional content before moving on.

§ Deal with your own emotions as well as others. Emotional energy is useful when it encourages participation and change. It is unhelpful when it distorts reality and blinds the possibility of creative solutions.

4. Work with success

§ Use a Solution Focused Brief Therapy pp approach of identifying what success would look like if the problem was gone or the issue resolved. This not only encourages positive energy, but it can also identify behavioural outcomes as well as those strategies which have already proven to be successful.

§ Brainstorm other solutions if necessary. Creativity and imagination can take people beyond former frameworks and breed enthusiasm.

5. Develop a specific action plan

§ Have both short and longer-term goals

§ Use SMART goal setting (Specific, Meaningful, Assessable, Realistic, Timed) to develop your action plan

§ Take one step at a time (success breeds success)

§ Include the who, what, how, when and management of possible barriers

6. Keep things going through regular action review

§ Identifying progress will help keep things moving

§ Identifying barriers/problems will allow for creative problem solving

§ Identifying learning will create a sense of mastery and improve further planning and action.

7. Document the process (see below)

We keep client records of assessment, intervention and review so that we and others can keep track of what's happened and what's going on. The same is true for community interventions.

Community Drug Action Planning Sheet Date …. / …. / ….
Goals (what)	Strategy (how)	Who	By when	Reflection date & with whom
Education .	.	.	.	.
Health Services .	.	.	.	.
Community Support Services	.	.	.	.
Law Enforcement .	.	.	.	.
Community Action .	.	.	.	.
Other Community Service Areas	.	.	.	.